After a huge year of controversy, apartment hunting and holding her tongue from any interviews (except for 20/20 of course), Rihanna finally broke her silence on Monday (November 23rd), when she dropped her “fourth” studio album, Rated R.
On Rated R, we’ve found that the “good girl” has completely “gone bad.” As far as her image goes, the new album picks up exactly where the last one left off. She’s fully made the transition into a real live “bad girl,” and no one is questioning why.
We got out first taste of Rihanna’s darkness when she debuted her first single, “♫ Russian Roulette.” The Chuck Harmoney-produced, Ne-Yo-penned track had fans and critics chattering with it’s edged-out concept and lyrics, very much improved vocal, as well as the implied nude shot, complete with barbed wire. The direction was clear and the tone of the album had been set.
R opens up with “Mad House,” and continues into the second single, “♫ Wait Your Turn (the Wait Is Ova),” which Rihanna released her first video for. And as the album continues into what is seemingly the third single, the Young Jeezy-featured “Hard,” you realize: Wait a minute. This isn’t a pop album! It does have it’s throwback GGGB, crossover moments on tracks like “Fire Bomb,” the Will.I.Am-assisted “Photographs,” and the aforementioned “Rude Boy,” but for the most part, Rihanna touches territories never before charted on her three previous albums.
All in all, the material on Rated R was clearly chosen to prove a point: Rihanna went through something, she dealt with it and now she’s come out on top as a stronger woman. She’s kept the production pretty much in house, riding out hard with the usual suspects, Ne-Yo, Stargate, as well as The Y’s and Justin Timberlake, while still staying loyal to Tricky Stewart and The Dream, who laced her so properly on her last album. But the album shines best with moments from her new friend, songwriter James Fauntleroy.
And even though the songs may not be as epic as the tracks that she offered us on Good Girl Gone Bad, it’s pretty safe to say that Rihanna has stapled herself as someone that can’t be kept in a box. And four albums deep, she doesn’t plan on going anywhere.
♫ OTHER TRACKS YOU’VE GOT TO HEAR: “Cold Case Love,” “Fire Bomb,” and “Rockstar 101.”
F**** what the HATERS think!
I LOVE U RIHANNA! & ur album..
my fav songs are
Rude Boy,Photographs,Stupid in Love,Fire Bomb,& Rockstar 101
SHE DOESN’T PLAN ON GOING ANYWHERE. NUFF SAID.
HATERS STAY MAD.
still fully stocked on shelves. 4 albums yea she might not be goin anywhere but she still dont have a number 1 album
i cannot wait to see these first week numbers after all this “hype”
(side note: cold case love is a cute song. I downloaded it for free tho..)
Album is C at best and the fact that the cd is only $3.99 for mp3 download indicates that it’s failing in sales.
I miss the island girl w/ the R&B edge.
Yes the CD is fire. I think these songs are more epic because it is from the heart and soul of Rihanna. I respect that she was willing to put it all out there. Of course the haters will be here in no time. They will be their usual predictable selves. They will hate the pic. They will hate the songs. They will hate just to hate. It’s what they do best.
I must say, I am beginning to see how clearly biased CL is. This review has GOT to be worst written one YET. It sounds like Rihanna herself wrote it. As someone who has listened to the album, this review does not seem to me AT ALL to be balanced and objective. FAIL Concreteloop. FAIL.
not pressed to even listen…
i hope she does well tho..
i’ve got my own shyt to worry about!
Album’s pretty good=) Go RiRi
I agree with the fact that she doesn’t keep herself in a box musically. I love the fact that she can genre hop so effortlessly. Her studio vocals on the album have improved and for those of you who think what you heard so far is not popping. Listen a couple more times since the music is a bit different it may not be appreciated for what it is until you give it a chance.I really think its a solid project,not perfect but very solid and bold.
I love it! I hope she does well.
Womp womp try again to all the people who can’t read….
The MP3 is 3.99 on yesterday and today only! After that it will be regular price. Cut the bull people seriously. You don’t like it don’t buy it. It’s not that serious to try to keep others from buying it too! Wtf? Is she taking money out of your pocket by having fans? Damn get a life for real.
y do people have 2 be haters no one hatin she do bad she do bad y they sellin her cds dirt cheap y is she naked all the time. she is not ciara or bey or keri. lol im being funny thats alll .
I love u Ri-Ri, the album is cool! my favorites r of course “Wait ur turn” “Rude Boy” and “Cold Case Love”
Good Luck! Rr-Ri brought my copy the 1st day!
I really like Rhianna, but the album is too damn depressing…
also the pictures on the album r amazing! and CL y is my comment being moderated is it b/c of the comment i left earlier about u guys being beWAWNce feens??? dont get mad its the truth!
@6 Yeah, I agree. Concreteloop doesn’t really do “reviews” they just describe every song. They never put any opinion into it.
i like rude boy, rockstar 101, cold case love and ofcourse wait your turn and russian roulette.
YAWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Lmao @someone criticizing Brian for giving Rihanna a good review! First they want to tell Rihanna how to do her job now they have the audacity to tell the CL staff how to do their job. The arrogance of the haters is unbelievable!
1) If you don’t like the way Rihanna sings/performs start your own label and put out your own artists. Better yet, you get up there and do it better than she does.
) If you don’t like the way CL does music reviews start your own blog and critique all you want.
3) You don’t have the balls to do either one (you will just continue to hide behind your computer) so just do us all a favor and stfu.
Great album …I Love Cold case …. Russian roulette… The last song… Rude boy… Rockstar… Stupid in love is great too and G4L…. go riri… Inever saw you as a Bouncey style R&B singer…you have far more depth than that
@6 and @15
Maybe it is because so many people be on her jock strap that they felt they needed to add a little more in there. They do have her as the background layout…
She may be watching…..lol
I still cnt see Y people talk about her because her songs have sex and explicit language in it & her racy album cover pics..umm if dats to much for u den dnt listen to it!
Rihanna is a grown ass woman
i loveee the album!
and i love the new background!
The album grew on mer rapidly. I bought it today, still not much of a fun of hers though.
I was very surprised with this album. this is the first Rihanna album I have listened to and I thought it was a very cohesive, solid effort. She should be proud. Still hope she sells…
CL gets paid for these background buyouts, just so you know. They arent doing them from the goodness of their hearts. LOL. Get that $$ Angel!
Also, the album actually isn’t that bad. I downloaded it for free from a torrent site tho. LOL! I refuse to spend money (even if it is 4 bucks) on Rihanna.
and i’m still NOT getting it.
this album sucks. there are only 2 tracks i dig and those are “hard” and “g4l.” come harder rihanna! is this all you have to offer along with your boring live performances? lol
I LOVE THE CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED HER ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE HAS DEFINITELY GROWN AS AN ARTIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE WILL BE AROUND FOR QUITE A WHILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE PERFORMED LIVE AND DID AN EXCELLENT JOB ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE PUT OUT AND EXCELLENT CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOPE NOTHING TO HATE ABOUT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RIHANNA IS HERE TO STAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE IS GETTING BETTER AND STRONGER EVERY TIME SHE GETS ON STAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO ONE CAN STOP RIHANNA FROM RISING TO THE TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cold Case Love is definitely my favorite song as well as G4L and Stupid In Love
ALBUM SUCKS.. SH ESUCKS AND HAS NO TALENT. TO BAD THE ALBUM WILL NOT BE NUMBER 1 NEXT WEEK. STEP IT UP RIHANNA ..
Rockstar 101, Cold Case love, The last song, wait ur turn, rude boy, russian roulette…man i could go on but there are all my favorites.
My girl is GOING NO WHERE “YUP, U KOW THIS”
Get it!
What eva! All this hype and the CD is just average at best. She will get sympathy sales though.
GO AWAY NEGATIVE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO BUY IT BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY ARE YOU HERE REVIEWING HER MUSIC IF YOU DON’T LIKE HER? GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET HER FANS HAVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE NOT NEEDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Um yea I’ve never been a big fan of her music
soooo she won’t be getting my monies
Best of luck to her tho!
Rihanna forever. Bought the album and I love it. Love her.
lmao@ callin rihtard the queen of the decade and never had a number one album..smh
the only song im impressed with is cold case love.
So people are actually posting comments just to say they won’t be buying it? lol ok cool. Don’t worry. We will be so you can have a seat.
Man this album straight CRACK!!!! She went hard on this one, which I didn’t expect(Cmon its Rihanna). I feel like its her best effort thus far and I’m sure she will be getting grammy nods with this one….My Fav tracks so far are G4L, Rudeboy, Stupid In Love, Wait Your Turn, Photographs, and Rockstar 101 is INSANE!!! Basically the whole album lol
The album is cute. I like G4L. Hard. Stupid In Love and Rockstar 101.
Most ppl will think shes calling herself a rockstart when she actually means she rocking everything in life.
Her best is GGGB. But I like the fact that she can keep ticking and handling hers and not lose it like Brit.
Rihanna is a house hold name and I am happy that she stepped up to the plate and considered her fans and the role model that she has become.
I give mad props to her for being the strong woman she is and keeping her eye on the prize.
Go RiRi!
Things that make you say Hmmmmmm……
How can you have an album review… without the review? Where’s the “review” of the songs? Did you even listened to the whole album before the review was written?
Well u you can beat $3.99… LMAO
The album is the most OVERHYPED, overrated,most horrific album to be released this year. She was trying to destroy Chris Brown’s career and look how its backfiring. Trying to milk the scandals. The album isn’t selling well AT ALL. Karma is a bitch Rihanna! ahaha!
I listened to most of it and Cold Case Love is the only one that stood out for me. I think it was good to try something different.
Even though Rihanna is speaking her truth in this album, this year has been burdened with so much pain and misfortunes (unemployment, foreclosures, recession, all types of abuse) and people want to feel happy again. Music is a form of escapism and nobody wants to be depressed and listen to depressing music to compound your own troubles.
It would have been good to use some of these songs but still have some uptempo joints too.
Im a Beyonce stan but,
Im going to do something that most Rihanna fans cant do
Im not gonna hate
Im listening to the Rihanna cd on Imeem and
It’s a head bobber
the album is fire…it will sell, maybe not the first week but gggb startef st 69000
Yes the people who doesnt like Rihanna will be here jto voice their thoughts just like the people lick between her butt will ! ! !
I wish her much success !
Thought GGGB was way better – will not be buying RR….
Like Hard, Wait Your Turn, Rockstar 101 … good tracks.
And no, this album won’t be no 1. Susan Boyle’s will – 500,000 copies first week. Then Gaga… I think. But, Fame Monster is far better than RR – in my opinion.
Still, good luck to her.
Peace
Wow .. a bit shocked at the cursing .. never really heard Rihanna curse before.
G4L – not something I’d listen to ..
Photographs – not something I’d listen to either but I like the fact that it’s not “dark” like a lot of her other songs
Rude Boy – lool .. woow ..
Rihanna is AMAZING
and this cd is double amazing
Def Jam did the album an injustice by putting the whole album mp3 for only $3.99. WTF? That album should have at least sell for $12.99.
love photographs, russian roulette, and G4L
Concreteloop just how much are def jam paying you to have Rihanna advertised all over your site and how much more did they pay you to post that review? LOL
DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDD @ #3….”cold case love is a cute song…downloaded it for free though”…LMFAO.
*to*
Not a fan of Rihanna to buy her album or her music lately, but I’ll be positive and wish her well regardless.
This is one hott album..Critically it was received well. I love it I like how Rihanna chose not to play it safe and do something different.. Kudos to her..
I think Rihanna’s album was a rush job because she had to put the songs together. I heard LA Reid say back in February during the Clive Davis event that Rihanna’s album was finished. I think that Chris B. had penned alot of songs on the album and Def Jam had to removed them and replaced them with other songs.
I think for a rush album, the songs I heard so far sounds very good. Imagine if Rihanna had more time to do the album.
The album is overhyped or overrated. . . If you don’t want it don’t get it.
Rih has done a good job on this album and was able to convey the emotions she was going through.
Some say it is too depressing, but if you went through what she did, how would you feel. Damn sure not giddy and cheerful all the time. Give that a rest.
The album review is on point! It is a good album and shows her development as a person and an artist.
All in all, Jay-Z said it best: “Everybody can tell you how to do it, they never did it”
Fall back haters!!!! & Watch Rih work. Keep doubting her, so when she is even more successful we can just chuckle and say: “Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t” HA.
The songs are really good, I just think people are mad because she did not do fast, club tracks again.
GOOD GIRL GONE BAD IS WAYY BETTER…!!!
I LISTENTED TO RATED R FOR FREE ON MYSPACE AND IM NOT EVEN GOING TO BE SPENDING $3.99 ON IT…I CAN USE THAT MONEY ON SOMETHING ELSE.
LIKE SERIOUSLY ALL THE PEOPLE SAYING THIS IS THE BEST ALBUM ARE LIARS!!!
EVERY SONG ON GOOD GIRL GONE BAD AND MUSIC OF THE SUN WERE ALL HOT! NOT ONE BAD SONG.
THIS ALBUM ONLY HAVE ABOUT 3 GOOD SONGS AND THE REST ARE GARBAGE !!!
RIHANNA IS GOING TO HAVE TO COME OUT WITH ANOTHER ALBUM NEXT YR.
JUST WAIT AND SEE…SHE WILL BE DROPPING ANOTHER ONE ASAP!